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Digital speedometers (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 2 days ago by ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works to c/cars@lemmy.world

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My last car was made in 2008 and now I'm looking at the market for the first time in 15 years and it is strange and frightening to me. What's up with the digital displays on everything? The rentals I've been driving don't even have the option of showing a picture of a normal speedometer - they will only show the speed in digits. I find that while I'm driving, all I notice is "there are two digits, and the one on the right flashes often." That's true whether I'm going 15 or 75. Actually reading the speed requires conscious attention and distracts me from watching the road. I hate it. I never had to do that with a normal speedometer - my brain just subconsciously tracked where the arrow was. Is this something I'll get used to? Or should I buy an older used car without a digital display? Right now it's annoying enough that I'm thinking of doing that.

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[–] CorvusCornix@piefed.social 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Personally, I like digital speedometers and I think you might get used to it, but in case you're afraid you won't, there are usually different display options. Audi, for example, allows you to customize their "Digital Cockpit" from more conventional looking gauges to a "hockey stick" style. Honda, at least as far as the newest Civics are concerned, uses a fully digital display but with conventional-looking dials (with the exception of the Type R, which in Sport+ mode gets a unique display).

I think your best bet might be to narrow down your search to particular cars you're interested in and either ask here, in some forums specific to that make and model, or ask the salesperson - any of them should be able to help you find out if and how to customize the dashboard to your liking.

Edit: what cars have you looked at so far?

Edit #2: it also sounds like you may be running afoul of the cars' safety features. Many cars, including mine, are set from the factory to flash, blink, or otherwise highlight the speed when you've gone over the limit, even if only by 1 mph / kmh, which I did find distracting. I adjusted the buffer to +10 and it's much less annoying.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I want a car with a manual transmission and ideally with rear wheel drive, so I'm looking at the Miata and the BRZ/GR86. Even the new Miatas still have real, physical gauges but the BRZ has an LCD display with the tachometer shown graphically but the speed only ever shown with digits, and that can't be changed unless you buy the 2020 (or older) model which still has physical gauges.

I used to drive a sedan so I'd prefer a newer BRZ (I'm looking at a 2023 one) because the Miata has so little cargo space (the BRZ at least has back seats that fold down) but I've been renting a car with a digital display for a week and I still haven't gotten used to it so I'm worried that I never will.

I don't mean that the numbers flash when I'm going over the speed limit - I just mean that the value is constantly changing, the changes are abrupt (a big part of the screen updates), and visually the difference between "55" and "75" is no bigger that the difference between "55" and "57". Actually monitoring my speed feels like having to look at my phone. This is as opposed to just seeing the speedometer needle out of the corner of my eye and knowing how fast I was going and how fast my speed was changing.

[–] CorvusCornix@piefed.social 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I was actually going to recommend taking a look at Mazda vehicles, as they're quite upscale, reliable, economical, fun to drive, and still have physical instrument clusters (sadly though, only the Miata offers a manual on the higher trims, so on any model but that you're relegated to losing features to gain the stick shift).

I did find this thread on the GR86 forums (which, as you're likely aware, is the BRZ's platform-mate) and saw this place mentioned (no affiliation) with respect to modifying the instrument cluster to open up some customization options, but I didn't read too far to determine what extent of customization is possible.

As another commenter mentioned, there's also the WRX, and if you're not absolutely set on RWD, I'll again mention the Civic Si, Type R, and also the Integra (really just a dressier Civic) are also options which display speed conventionally, have lots of cargo space, engaging driving dynamics, and a manual option (albeit sometimes finicky - if you haven't used a Honda manual before, definitely get some seat time behind one before committing).